Covario: Global paid search grew 18% in 2012

San Diego—Worldwide spending on pay-per-click search advertising in the enterprise technology, consumer electronics and retail sectors grew 18% last year, according to search marketing agency Covario Inc.
According to Covario's "Global Paid Search Analysis" of its own clients, paid search advertising on mobile devices continued to accelerate worldwide throughout the year, with mobile search spending up 30% in the fourth quarter compared with the year-earlier period. For the second consecutive quarter, costs-per-click on tablets exceeded those on personal computers, Covario said.
Google continued to command more than 86% of the paid-search market share, with the Yahoo-Bing Network at nearly 8%, according to the report.